Process of separating ores by magnetism



(No Model.) I

U. M. BALL & S. NORTON. PROUES$ OP SEPARATING ORES BY MAGNETISM.

Patented May 28, 1889.

' NVENTORS WITNESSES:

A TTORNE Y5 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLINTON M. BALL, OF TROY, AND SHELDON NORTON, OF WVEST TROY, AS-

SIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD TO ALEXANDER T. PORTER, OF WVEST TROY,

NEIV YORK.

PROCESS OF SEPARATING ORES BY MAGNETISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0.404,332, dated May 28,1889;

Application filed September 26, 1888. Serial No. 286,398. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, CLINTON M. BALL, of Troy, in the county ofRensselaer, and SHEL- DON NORTON, of West Troy, in the county of Albany,and State of New York, both citizens of the United States, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Separating Ores; andwe do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact deroscription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a novel method or process of separatingmagnetic ores from the I 5 impurities with which they are generallyfound associated, such as phosphorus, sulphur in the form of pyrites,&c.

Briefly, the invention consists in forcibly causing the tumbling orrolling of the parti-' 2o cles of crushed ore through a compoundmagnetic field of alternating polarity with or without the applicationof a current of air; and the invention further consists in the specificprocess and steps, substantially as here- 2 5 inafter fully describedand claimed.

In carrying out ourprocess it is necessary to use some form ofapparatus, and we illustrate the invention by means of an improved formof magnetic separator, but desire here to state that we do not hereinclaim any ap-' paratus, as such forms the subject-matter of anotherapplication filed by us October 3, 1888, Serial No. 287,329.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical sec- 3 5 tion of a separatingapparatus embodying the features of the present invention, and Fig. 2illustrates diagrammatically the principle upon which our invention isbased.

We construct the hopper 1, having an ad 40 j ustable gate, with thedistributing-edge 2,

adapted to spread the ore and gangue uniformly and to an even depth overan inclined apron, 3, which feeds into a vertical chute, 4, whose lowerend is connected to the inlet of a rotary fan or blower, 5, which may beconveniently operated from the counter-shaft 14 by the belt 6 and pulley7. Situated on the frame-work of the structure are the two parallelshafts 8 9, and these carry the drums 10 and 11, over which is passed anendless belt,

12, or screen, of material which is preferably non-magnetic, drum illbeing driven positively by means of a belt connected with any suitablesource of power. Both or either of the ends of the apparatus between thedrums 10 and 11 and the face of the inclined apron 3 may be open to theatmosphere, so that in the operation of the blower 5 currents of air areinduced at these points and deflected downwardly into chute 4, asindicated by arrows in the figure. In the space between the drums l0 and11, I place a series of magnets,

M M M M, &c., and these magnets may be either permanent or electromagnets, and they are so arranged as to have their free poles in closeproximity to the inner face of the belt 12, next the inclined apron 3.The free poles are arranged in alternation as to polaritythat is, if thefirst pole is north the second is south, the third north, the fourthsouth, and so on throughout the series, which may be of anydesirednumber.

The operation will be as follows: The ore and gangue passing down theapron 3 come Within the attractive influence of the first pole of themagnetic system and all magnetic particles contained in the body of oreare immediately attracted and held against the movin g belt 12, which onthis side is moving downwardly, as indicated by the large arrow. All themagnetic particles are attracted first to the first pole; but as thebelt compels them to move forward toward the second pole their positionsare reversed, and, leaving the second pole for the third pole, theirpositions are 8 5 again reversed, and so on past the series of magnetsin succession, so that all the magnetic particles are not merely causedto adhere against the face ofthe belt, but as theypass along arecompelled to, as it were, tumo ble or turn end for end, and in thismanner are very thoroughly agitated and their friction upon one anotherand upon the belt, along with the mechanical agitation efiected by thealternations of magnetic polarity, result in a 5 most thorough cleansingof the magnetic particles from all dust or other impurities which wouldotherwise cling to them. The peculiar action upon the magnetic particlesis graphically illustrated in Fig. 2, where, for the pur- I00 pose ofclearness, a single particle is shown in its successive positions as ittravels past the alternating poles of the magnetic system, the particlebeing exaggerated in size in order to make the action clear. Oninspection of this figure it will be observed that as the particle firstapproaches the magnetic system it becomes polarized by induction and oneend becomes attracted more strongly than the other, owing to thisinduced polarity, and as it passes such pole it stands on end, inaccordance with the well-known phenomena of the lines of force inmagnetic substances. As it is carried forcibly past this pole its outerand free end tends toward the next pole of the magnetic field, andmidway between the two the position of the particle is parallel with thebelt, and when it reaches the second magnetic pole it again stands onend, but this time 011 the opposite end from that on which it stood atthe last stage, and so on throughout the entire series of poles of thecompound magnetic field, the magnetic particle is drawn by the belt andat the same time compelled by the magnetic attractions to tumble endover end, as it were, a suflicient number of times to absolutely cleanseit of all foreign substances and dust which might be clinging to itsexterior. As the gangne approaches the chute at most of theunmagnetizable portions fall into the chute and are carried away by thecurrent of air produced by the blower 5, and as a final step towardperfectly cleaning the magnetized particles which are now past the chuteand are ready to be delivered, the induced current of air upwardly pastthe lower end of apron 3 has the effect of blowing away the last tracesof dust and all other impurities which may pos sibly be still clingingto the particles of magnetic ore, after which the belt carries themoutside the magnetic field, and as they are no longer attracted theyfall on the lower end of apron 3, and thus are not merely separated fromthe gangne, but also perfectly cleaned.

We have shown and described a particular manner of utilizing a blast ofair; but we do not confine ourselves to the particular mode indicatedabove, as the same is subject to modification, as are also all the partsof the apparatus herein described; but as the same do not form anyportion of the invention em braced by this application we do not hereinattempt to describe any such modifications, as such wouldbemoditications of form of apparatus, and will be referred to in theother application accompanying this.

We claim as our invention 1. The process of separating iron or its orefrom impurities, consisting in forcing it in a state of division past asuccession of two or more magnetic poles of alternating polarity,whereby the particles are forcibly caused to tumble or rotate end forend.

2. The process of separating iron or its ore from impurities, consistingin forcing it in a state of division past a succession of two or moremagnetic poles of alternating polarity, while interposing a non-magneticscreen between the ore and the poles.

The process of separating iron or its ore from impurities, consisting inforcing it in a divided state past a succession of magnetic poles ofalternating polarity, while subjecting the material to the action of acurrent of: air.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

CLINTON M. BALL. SHELDON NORTON. Witnesses:

FRED E. OornoUr, LnwIs II. MoDoNALD.

